Some Mechs Never Change
by Selena Snow
Summary: Even after countless stellar cycles, Flareup guesses that some mechs just never change. Especially Sideswipe. One-shot inspired by Lunar Mist's "Sisterhood" SideswipexFlareupxSunstreake r


**This story is dedicated to my dear sister and Lunar Mist, whose story "Sisterhood" was the inspiration for this one-shot.**

"Flareup! Why aren't you listening?! This is vital information!" the blue femme insisted, shoving the datapad into her sister's faceplate.

The red and orange femme known as Flareup rolled her optics and pushed the datapad away. "Because all of that stuff is stupid. It belongs in the pits," she told her sister blatantly.

Chromia huffed and turned to their younger sister. "Arcee, read this out loud for me!" she commanded, placing the datapad in the pink femme's servos.

Arcee blinked, but read it anyways. "_'Top Ten Tips for a First Date'_...yeah, Flare, this might be useful!" she said encouragingly, transferring it back to Flareup.

Flareup sighed and looked down at the datapad. "_'Number One: Put on a good amount of wax, but not too much'_," she read. "I never wear wax!" she protested to the article out loud with an outraged expression.

"Just keep reading," Chromia pleaded.

Flareup sighed. "_'Number Two: Show all sides of your personality! Be funny, intelligent, sexy, but don't overdo it. Number Three: Play hard to get, but still show him that you are interested. Number Four: Be in charge, but let him lead sometimes. Number-'_ Primus, why am I reading this?!" she groaned, throwing the tabloid datapad down to the ground. "It's all so contradictory! _'Do this, but not too much'_," she mimicked in an obnoxious voice.

Chromia rolled her optics and put her servos on her hips. "Oh, stop complaining, Flare! You want your first date to go well, don't you?"

Flareup considered it for a moment. Tonight was her first date with the once-famous gladiator, Sideswipe. They had known each other long ago when Arcee had still been just a sparkling, and the war had only been a rumor. After many years of separation, they had finally met up again, now on the re-born Cybertron. After all those years, Flareup had figured that Sideswipe would have changed.

But no, Sideswipe never changed. He was still that same, silly yet sweet mech whose little brother Red Alert had once played with her younger sister.

And now thinking about it, it was a good thing that Chromia and Arcee didn't know that their sister was going out on a date with a once ruthless gladiator who had the spark of a turbo puppy.

Flareup simply sat there for a moment, wondering over these things. But then it hit her. They had been best friends for a while...when had that changed?

_Sideswipe and Flareup walked side by side in a comfortable silence. Flareup's processor had drifted off again, thinking about Cybertron. Though reborn, it still had much work to do. Some of the city states were back up, such as Vos, Tarn, Praxus, and of course Iacon. The Decepticons and Autobots had made peace, but would there still be a bias against one another? She couldn't be sure._

_Flareup hadn't realized that they had arrived at her housing unit until she felt something grab both of her servos. She looked down and saw cherry red servos gently holding her own. She looked up into Sideswipe's brilliant blue optics with her own confused ones._

_"What are you doing?" she asked softly, resisting the urge to rip her servos away._

_Sideswipe laughed. "Asking a beautiful femme out for a date in two solar cycles?" he answered with a grin._

_She blinked at him before smiling slowly. "I'd love to," she replied._

Flareup sighed as she started to come out of her day dream. She could still feel the warmth of his servos. She could still see the gentleness in his optics. And she could definitely still remember the way his optics had flickered down to her lip plates longingly before he'd walked away.

Flareup let out a sigh. Why hadn't he kissed her? He'd acted like he'd wanted to...so why-

"Flare!"

Flareup jumped, putting her servo over her spark in surprise. "Primus, Chromia! _What_ is your problem?" she snapped.

Chromia put her servos on her hips. "You were spacing out...again," she added on.

"Like you never space out and think about Ironhide," she retorted as she sat up a little more on the couch.

"Only when I'm not with him," Chromia corrected with a smile. "And I have a sparkbond with him. It's different."

"If it helps any, I used to space out thinking about Springer all the time before we became bonded," Arcee added on.

Flareup just huffed and crossed her arms. Her sisters sighed simultaneously, sitting down on either side of their sister.

"Just read it, okay? For me?" Chromia pleaded. "You know how rare it is to be courted, now. Even with the war over-"

"Chromia, we're not courting!" Flare interrupted, getting up from the couch and walking into the kitchen.

Chromia hastily followed after her. "Come on, Flare! Think about Danni and Opi! They would be wanting this first date to go well, too."

Flareup froze. What _would_ their parental units have thought about her going on her first date? Would they have even let her go? With a former _gladiator_ of all mechs?

Flareup took in a shaky cycle of air. "I know," she murmured. "But I just want to be myself, okay? Not some other femme," she explained quietly.

Arcee and Chromia both came over and hugged their sister tightly. Chromia held Flareup by her shoulders at arms length. "At least let me and Arcee give you some wax," she bargained with a playful smile.

Flareup smiled back. "Deal."

* * *

"...And don't be an idiot," Sunstreaker finished.

Sideswipe rolled his optics at his golden yellow twin. "Whatever you say, Sunny," he laughed.

Sunstreaker growled. "Don't call me that."

Sideswipe frowned, rolling over to his twin to look at him thoughtfully. "Are you sure you don't want to come? She was your friend, too," he offered.

Sunstreaker shook his head. "But she was your _best_ friend. She put up with me," he declined.

Sideswipe smirked and rolled out the housing unit. "We'll see about that, Sunny."

"Don't call me that!" the yell came from inside the housing unit. Sideswipe laughed and started down the familiar journey to Flare's housing unit.

He was nearly shaking with excitement. She had taken him up on his offer! Even though he had been a gladiator! Maybe she had forgotten that part of his past...he couldn't count how many femmes had turned him down because of his former occupation, and the reputation that came with it. But now he was glad that they all had. He would have never met Flareup if they hadn't.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the door of Flareup's modest housing unit. As he transformed his pedes back to normal, he looked over his red paint job again. Sunny had insisted on giving him a new paint job to cover up the scratches and welded-over battle wounds. He had even let him use a little bit of his special wax!

Sideswipe rubbed his servos together anxiously as he stared at the door. Their date was today, right? He checked his internal clock. Yes, it was. Was he bouncing up and down on his heel struts? No, no, of course not. That would mean that he would be nervous. Sideswipe was never nervous-

"How long are you going to just stand there fidgeting like a turbo puppy?"

Sideswipe was jolted out of his internal rambling. He looked up, hoping to see Flare, but was disappointed when he saw her sisters standing there instead, looking him over.

"I told you two not to answer the door!" a voice came from inside the housing unit.

And there she was.

She pushed her way through her sisters to the front. She walked down the stairs-it seemed that she floated down- from her housing unit and stopped in front of him, looking up at him expectantly. She looked...

"_Wow_," Sideswipe breathed.

Flareup smirked at him. "What...no charming pick up line?" she asked teasingly.

Sideswipe blinked, but slowly smiled, taking her orange servos into his red ones. He pressed feather light kiss to the top of both servos, ignoring her sisters' squealing in the background.

"Nope, not this time," he replied with a smirk.

She smiled up at him, unwittingly melting his spark. He thought back to Sunny's words. _"Don't fall in love with her, now. Don't go get your spark broken."_ he advised.

Sideswipe looked back at that smile, and then at her gorgeous blue optics. 'This is going to be hard,' he decided.

* * *

The two walked in their usual comfortable silence. Flareup wasn't sure where they were headed, but she assumed that Sideswipe did. She soon found herself at the downtown Iacon market. Her optics widened as she looked around the open-air market. Sideswipe grinned at her and took her servo gently.

"Come on," he said, pulling her along. They walked through the market place together, stopping every now and then whenever Flareup wanted to look at a merchant's stand.

"Why would anybot ever buy wax _that_ expensive?" Flareup wondered as they walked away from the wax dealer.

Sideswipe laughed- and was about to answer "Sunny"- but stopped. Out of the corner of his optic, he caught sight of a familiar faceplate. One that he definitely didn't want to see.

Breakdown.

Sideswipe growled in the back of his throat. What was his old rival from the Pits doing at the downtown market place? Slag, why wasn't he offline?

Sideswipe unconsciously put his arm around Flare's waist, pulling her close to him as he walked out of Breakdown's line of sight.

* * *

Flareup was surprised by his sudden move, to say the least. She was also curious as to why he was leading her away from the market. She frowned slightly, but just went along with it. He must have some reason.

He continued to lead her along through the city streets. After a few cycles of walking in silence, they arrived at their destination.

"Maccadam's Oil House?" she said in surprise. "Are you _trying_ to get me overcharged?" she asked him suspiciously.

He gave her a charming grin. "Who, me? Never," he answered happily, strolling on in with her by his side. They were immediately seated at the bar, and they both ordered mid-grade energon.

As they sipped on their energon, they spent their time at Maccadam's in a pleasant conversation that Flareup was sure she'd never want to forget.

"Oh, please, I'm not _that_ vain. I just have talent, and I know it. Being vain is Sunny's job."

"We should go on dates more."

"Did I mention that you look beautiful?"

"By the way, has your comm. link number changed since before the war?"

And finally...

"How come you haven't gotten bonded yet?"

That was her favorite thing that Sideswipe said. When he'd said it, he'd looked so curious. So innocent. And he'd also looked at her with something else. She hadn't decided what it was yet. There had been a certain...kindness in his optics, but it was more than kindness. She wasn't sure what it was, but whatever it was, it made her spark flutter happily.

After their long time at Maccadam's, they got kicked out because the oil house was about to close. They both walked out of the place laughing together, still chatting endlessly. They continued down the streets of the city before Flareup realized that he was leading her outside the city. She wasn't sure why, but she decided to trust him.

Finally, he stopped in the middle of a path far away from Iacon. Flareup looked around, confused.

"Close your optics," Sideswipe instructed softly. She raised her optic ridge at him, but complied, closing her optics. She felt a warm servo gently take her own and lead her along slowly.

"Sideswipe...where are we going?" she asked quietly after a few cycles of walking.

She could almost hear him smile. "Why don't you open your optics and find out?" he suggested.

She flickered open her optics and gasped. They were atop a hill looking over all of Iacon. In the distance she could see the Sea of Light, it's vibrant array of colors bursting out of it. And overhead in the dark sky hung both moons of Cybertron, accompanied by a multitude of stars.

"Wow..." she breathed. "It's beautiful."

* * *

Sideswipe wanted so badly to say "but not as beautiful as you" but he couldn't bring himself to. It was such a cliché. How many times had she heard something stupid such as that pick up line? No, he wanted this to be different than any other relationship she or he had ever been in.

He turned to her and gently took her faceplate in his servos. He leaned down and gazed into her optics. His optics flickered down to her lip plates before looking back up into her optics.

* * *

Flareup's optics widened. There it was again. The look in his optics that made her spark flutter. And he looked down at her lip plates again!

"Sideswipe..." she murmured.

Their faceplates slowly started to come together...

"Funny, I thought I saw your ugly faceplate back at the market."

Before Flareup knew it, she had been shoved behind Sideswipe, and he had his twin gladiator swords out.

"Breakdown!" he growled, standing protectively in front of her.

Breakdown smirked, making Flareup's optics widen. His optics may have been yellow, but they were definitely tinted with the hatred of a Decepticon.

"Thought you'd get offlined in the war," Sideswipe sneered.

Breakdown smirked even more. "And I thought that you'd never get a femme-friend. Or worse, is she your bonded?" He laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day Sideswipe got tied down by a femme."

Sideswipe let out an enraged roar, springing out and charging into action. Breakdown just laughed, pulling out a massive hammer. He slammed in head-on into Sideswipe, throwing the red mech to the side.

"Sideswipe!" Flareup shouted in horror, too frightened to move from where she stood.

Breakdown walked over and towered over the injured mech. "Not as tough as you thought he was, huh?" he asked her. "What's a pretty femme like you doing with a dolt like him anywa-"

He was cut off by a sharp stab with a sword. "Staying away from mechs like you!" Sideswipe answered, clashing weapons with Breakdown.

"Mechs like me?! Says the gladiator!"

"Just like you!"

"At least I didn't join those pathetic Autobots!"

"War's over, Breakdown!"

"No it's not! And it never will be!" Breakdown roared, slamming his hammer once more into Sideswipe's side.

Sideswipe groaned as he lay on the ground. He cycled air in and out roughly. "Flare, run," he called weakly.

"This is why you don't date mechs like this, femme," Breakdown chuckled, raising his hammer above Sideswipe's spark. "They never keep their promises."

**_Click._**

Flareup cycled in heavily as she dropped her rifle to the ground. Breakdown fell with a resounding thud. She rushed over to Sideswipe.

"Nice...shot..." he coughed weakly with a smile. She rolled her optics, but helped him get up so that he was leaning back on his elbow joints. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"You idiot," she mumbled.

"_Your_ idiot," he corrected with a laugh. She rolled her optics again and let go of him. She got up off the ground and pulled him up with her.

**::Flareup to Ratchet. I need an airlift.::**

* * *

Cycles later, Flareup sat impatiently in the waiting room, her helm in her servos as she rested her optics. He had been back there for a while...why couldn't she visit him yet? She smirked when she realized that Ratchet was probably giving Sideswipe a long lecture about his idiocity.

"Where is he?" a gruff voice demanded.

Flareup's optics shot open. She knew that voice.

"Sunny?" she called softly, looking up.

And there he was, walking past her. "Don't call me that," he said by rote, before he froze and looked at her. "Flare? What are you doing here?" he asked curiously.

Flareup rolled her optics. "Your brother got hurt while we were on our date," she said with a small smirk. "What are _you_ doing here?" she returned.

Sunstreaker scoffed. "He told me to come through the bond. Figured it was bad- I felt the pain," he explained shortly, sitting down beside her with a sigh. "So who was it?" he asked.

"Somebot called Breakdown," she told him. "Killed him with one rifle shot," she said proudly.

Sunstreaker laughed. "A rifle...you mean a silly little-" she fixed him with a hard glare "...rifle offlined Breakdown?"

"Yup," she said with a bored tone.

First Aid appeared at the door, making both bots perk up. "You two can come back now," he told them. They shared a look before they both got up and followed after him. They entered the clean white room to see Sideswipe offline on the medical berth.

"Before you ask, he's perfectly fine," Ratchet said, seemingly appearing out of thin air. "Had to put him offline because he wouldn't stop talking," he added on ruffly.

"Thanks," Flareup murmured, running her servo gently over the top of Sideswipe's helm.

Ratchet snorted. "Young love," he muttered as he left the room.

Flareup sat down on one of the cold chairs next to the berth, and Sunstreaker took the other. Flareup ran her digits over Sideswipe's servo softly, deep in thought. She didn't even notice Sunstreaker's calculated stare.

"You really love him, don't you?" he asked her analytically.

Flareup blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You really love him," he repeated.

Flareup blushed and looked down at her servo as it rested over Sideswipe's. "Maybe...how can you love somebot after just one date, though?" she asked.

Sunstreaker snorted. "You've known us much longer than just one day," he retorted, looking at her curiously. "So what _did_ happen to you during all of those years?"

She shrugged. "Not much...joined the Autobot femme division, found Arcee, and reconnected with Chromia. Other than that, life was pretty monotonous."

Sunstreaker snorted again. "Welcome to the club," he replied sarcastically.

They continued on, talking about what had happened over the years, including some very embarrassing stories about Sideswipe.

"He didn't!" Flareup gasped.

Sunstreaker chuckled. "He did. We were in the brig for two weeks for that one," he recalled as he shook his helm.

Flareup laughed and looked over at Sideswipe. And at that moment, he decided to online.

"Hey, beautiful," he slurred, still halfway in recharge.

"Don't you sweet talk me, mech! You could've gotten offlined!" she huffed.

"Calm down, Flare," Sunstreaker instructed. His voice was oddly soothing.

Flareup took in a large cycle of air. "Fine. But you still owe me for scaring me like that!" she warned him.

Sideswipe laughed weakly. "I had a great time on our date, too."

She rolled her optics at him. Some mechs never changed.

**Three Solar Cycles Later**

Flareup sighed as she flipped through the datapad listlessly. She had gone home after one solar cycle at the hospital. She hadn't heard anything from the twins, but she just assumed that Sideswipe was recovering.

A knock at the door roused her from her musings. She got up and walked over to the door lazily. She opened it, and immediately jumped.

"Ready to go, my dear?" Sideswipe asked, pulling her by her servo out into the street.

Flareup blinked at him. "Go where?" she asked, confused as to why he was even there.

"To finish our date, of course!" he said cheerfully. "And Sunny-"

"Don't call me that."

"-decided to tag along this time, isn't that right, Sunny?"

Flareup raised her optic ridge at the yellow mech, but smiled. "Fine by me," she said with a shrug.

Sideswipe grinned and pulled her along. "Then let's go!"

**Two Stellar Cycles Later**

"Danni! Danni! When are Auntie Chromia and Auntie Arcee gonna get here?" the little orange youngling pouted.

Flareup laughed as she picked the youngling up. "They'll be here soon, little Sol," she promised.

"Yay!" Sol cheered, clapping her little servos together.

"Sol, is that your voice I hear?"

"Opi!" she squealed, jumping out of Flare's arms and up into her opi's. "Auntie Chromia and Auntie Arcee gonna be here soon!" she told him excitedly.

Sunstreaker chuckled and patter her helm lightly. "And Uncle Ironhide and Uncle Springer, remember?" he reminded her.

She nodded her silver helm diligently. "Yes, I remember."

"Sides? Where did Sol go? I think she disappeared!" Sideswipe said in a mock-panicked voice as he rounded the corner into the kitchen.

Sol giggled at her silly opi. "I'm right here, Opi!" she called.

Sideswipe froze and looked around. "Did you hear that? I think I just heard her! So~ol...where are you?" he asked, searching under the couch.

Sol giggled again and jumped onto her opi's back. "Here I am!" she squealed.

Sideswipe gasped at her. "How did you get there?" he asked in mock-surprise.

She giggled and put her little arms out like wings. "I'm a seeker, Opi! I fly!" she told him, zooming around the room.

Sideswipe looked at her thoughtfully. "You don't look like a seeker," he told her.

Sol pouted. "But I am! I'm a seeker!"

"Where's your trine, then?" he quizzed her.

She considered it for a moment. "They're out flying," she decided with a smile.

Sideswipe crept close to her. "So they wouldn't mind if I...tickle attacked you?!" he challenged, attacking her with tickles.

She squealed. "Opi! Opi! Stop it, Opi!" she shouted in the midst of giggles.

Flareup laughed to herself as she sat back and watched her small family. Her danni and opi would be proud, she decided. They would have been proud.


End file.
